The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-09-09

pennyNin her purse2 Withhis consent
! should never MARRY her, even were
there no Mile Morau on earth. +
might resist haia sasttaatshlfs stitssF aud
marry Airline. After JnRt, perhaps /
might teach music Tor q livelihood. /
knew something ofthe arr. And hen,
ii we two could live on a crust in q
garret, we might behappy. Could we2
Could /? thought ofmy own elegant
house; of the style in which | had al
| ways lived; Of the Injuries that had
rrown so be necessities to me I
sinudidieredi.
Perhaps time will help me" / said
to myself. IT will not anger my faith
er yet. / will remain passive. | viii
never marry Mademoiselle Moran;
but If il amuses the old people to
talk OF our betrothal, let them do it,
SO Isolved my conscience. 0nce or
twice q week my father took me for
mally to call upon young Mademci
! selle Moran. The rest Of the evenings
l made love to my little Airline. She
lived with her old grandfather on an
upper floor in a dismal street,
but the room vas bright and clean
enough, and she was as pretty and as
fresh as a rose.
Together We supped upon bread and
radishes, and claret, which | brought
with me in a long bottle. Those were
dilicious feasts. They were sweetened
andfavored bylove. Shedid not know
that / was a rich man. She did not
care whether l was rich or poor.
Neither of us looked far into the fu-
ture. We were young, and the present
suaiced us. Whether we whispered
together in the little garnet, or went
arm in arm to see a play; whether we
walked through the gas-lit streets, or
wandered on some summer holiday
out in some pleasant country.places-
we were as happy as the day waslong.
Meanwhile Mile. Moran gave me her
polite attention when we met, and
made no objection whatever to our
parents plans.
Loving airline as ! did, ! was still a
coward. Yea who have known me
IN battle will perhaps think I be-
lie myself, but at one-and-twenty
/ was a moral coward. | despise
myself as | write, but | have promised
to tell the truth. / allowed matters
to proceed without interruption, until
at last / was formally affianced to
Mile. Moran. / signed the marriage
contract with my own hand, and
then / felt that Icould not retrace
my steps. Satan whispered in my q
what does it matter2 Marry the
lady. Your little shopgirl does not
know anything about you. Keep
your fortune aud Jour sweetheart al
So.
obeyed his whispers. managed
! nv Little affair go as to avoid suspi-
/ clC both sides. of the
wrong 1 was doingtQ gDg and
pure young girls, I .hoated down the
stream towards my wedding day.
But Satan always deserts his friends
at last A letter from my father,
which / had recklessly carrisa about
me, fell from my pocket unseen by
me one night as | parted with Airline.
She read it. Perhaps jealousy
prompted her;and she fanced that she
Nigh discover a rivals billet-doux. At
all events she read tt, and learned
from it all the truth. Charged whit,
/ could not deny the facts.
could not only vow that / loved
her and her alone. Poor child! AS
she listened | saw all hope and sweet
ness die out of her face. White and
despairing, with her eyes dilating and
her lips set hard, she looked at me
and said nothing. She drowned her.
self in the Seine that night, and when
next | saw her it was upon q marble
slab II the morgue, her hands upon
her breast, her hair falling about her
like a black veil, my ring upon her fin
ger. My friend, | did not marry Mile.
Moran. Remorse overwhelmed me
at last. confessed all to my
father, broke my engagement,
and, leaving home and friends
behind me, enlisted In the army. I
sought death. Those who seek him
he shuns. / was called a brave man.
Who that hated life would not be
brave? When you knew me | wore
the captains epaulettes.
I need not tell you of my soldiers
life or of the wounds by which / was
invaded.
Hearing of them, my father, who
had at last forgiven me, bestowed
upon me his pardon and gave me this
little place at st. Sauveur. Here /
have lived ever since, d helpless, shat
tered wreck, almost incapable Of
motion. 1t is five years since / came
here, and at the end Of the second be-
gan the incredible part of my story.
My temper, as you know. was none
OF the best, and Ihnted the sight Of
man at times. Greatly az / needed
him. | often drove my attached old
soldier servanS from me, and, oneday,
when l had done this, / sat alone in
my great chair by the seward win
dow Of my sleeping apartment, when
a very strange thing happened to me.
felt a hand upon my head. 1t was
y woman's hand, soft and warm and
aed IA ray carls III a
fashion that thrilled me with memo
lrieg of the past.